Willie Nelson Biography
Born Willie Hugh Nelson, Willie Nelson is an American musician, actor, and activist. He is one of the most recognized artists in country music. This is due to the critical success of the album Shotgun Willie. Also, the Red Headed Stranger and Stardust had a commercial success too.
Willie Nelson Age|Birthday
Nelson was born on 29th April 1933. Therefore he is 88 years old as of 2021. He celebrates his birthday on 29th April every year.
Willie Nelson Height|Weight
Nelson’s height is 5 feet 6 inches (approximately 175 centimeters). Moreover, his weight is 70 kilograms.
Willie Nelson Family
Nelson is the son of Myrie Marie and Ira Doyle and was born in Abbott, Texas. In addition, he has a sibling, an older sister named Bobbie. Her sister was also a pianist in his band for over 50 years. However, the two were raised by their grandparents during the Great Depression.
Willie Nelson Wife
Nelson has seven children. He has been married four times. He was first married to Martha Matthews from 1952 to 1962 and the couple has three children together, Lana, Susie, and Willie “Billy” Hugh, Jr, who later died. Unfortunately, their marriage did not last due to violence with Martha assaulting Willie several times.
Later, he married Shirley Collie in 1963 and they divorced in 1971. This was when Shirley found a bill from the maternity ward of a Houston hospital charged to Nelson and Connie Koepke for the birth of Paula Carlene.
Nelson and Connie married the same year and had another daughter together named Amy Lee. However, they divorced in 1988, and following their divorce, he married Annie D’Angelo in 1991, his current wife. The two have two sons together named Lukas Autry and Jacob Micah.
Willie Nelson Education
In 1950, Nelson graduated from high school and joined the U.S. Air Force. However, due to back problems, he was later discharged. He attended Baylor University for years after his return but dropped out to succeed in music. He worked as a singer in honky-tonks and disc jockey in Texas radio stations during this time.
Willie Nelson Career
In 1956, Nelson recorded the song Lumberjack when he moved to Vancouver, Washington where he wrote Family Bible. Moreover, he worked as a disk jockey in nearby Portland, Oregon, and various radio stations in Vancouver. After signing a contract with D Records, he moved to Houston, Texas. He worked as a disk jockey and sang at the Esquire Ballroom weekly. In addition, he wrote songs that would become country standards during that time. They include; Crazy, Funny How Time Slips Away, Hello, and Pretty Paper. He signed a publishing contract with Pamper Music after moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 1960. This allowed him to join Ray Price’s band as a bassist.
“And Then I Wrote” was her first album recorded in 1962. He signed in 1964 with RCA Victor and joined the Grand Ole Opry the following year due to his album’s success. However, he retired in 1972 and moved to Austin, Texas, after mid-chart hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was motivated by the ongoing music scene o Austin to return from retirement, performing frequently at the Armadillo World Headquarters.
Moreover, he turned to outlaw country including albums such as Shotgun Willie and Phases and Stages in 1973 after signing with Atlantic Records. He recorded the critically acclaimed album Red Headed Stranger in 1975 when he switched to Columbia Records. Along with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser, he recorded another outlaw country album, Wanted! The Outlaws the same year. Moreover, along with fellow singers Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson, he joined the country supergroup The Highwaymen. This was while he created hit albums like To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before, On The Road Again, and Pancho and Lefty during the mid-1980s.
Additionally, in 1990, the Internal Revenue Service claimed that he owed $32 million and seized his assets. The weak investments he had made during the 1980s aggravated the difficulty of paying his outstanding debt. However, the auction of his assets cleared his debt in 1992 when he released The IRS Tapes: Who’ll Buy My Memories? which had double profits. He continued touring extensively and released albums every year during the 1990s and 2000s. Moreover, he explored genres such as reggae, blues, jazz, and folk and reviews ranged from positive to mixed.
In addition, in the 1979 film The Electric Horseman, he made his first movie appearance. Other appearances in movies and television followed. Furthermore, he is the co-chair and major liberal activist of the advisory board of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). The organization is in favor of marijuana legalization. He owns the biodiesel brand Willie Nelson Biodiesel on the environmental front. its product is made from vegetable oil. Additionally, in the official music charity of the state of Texas, he is the honorary chairman of the advisory board of the Texas Music Project.
Filmography
1979 – The Electric Horseman
1980 – Honeysuckle Rose
1982 – Barbarosa
1984 – Songwriter
1985 – We Are the World
1986 – Stagecoach, Red Headed Stranger, The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James
1988 – Baja Oklahoma
1991 – Thief, Another Pair of Aces, Wild Texas Wind
1997 – Wag The Dog, Gone Fishin’
1998 – Half Baked
1999 – Austin Powers
2002 – The Country Bears
2004 – Be Here to Love Me, Willie Nelson and Friends, The Big Bounce
2005 – The Dukes of Hazard
2006 – Beerfest, Broken Bridges
2007 – Blonde Ambition
2008 – Beef for My Horses, Surfer Dude, Swing Vote
2011 – The Muppets, Paul Williams Stil Alive
2013 – Supermensch, Angels Sing
2015 – A Poem Is A Naked Person
2016 – Zoolander2
2017 – Lost in London, Pure Country, Pure Heart, The American Epic Sessions
2018 – Paradox, Quincy, Waiting for The Miracle To Come
2019 – Jim Allison
2020 – My Darling Vivian, Jimmy Carter, Rock & Roll
Willie Nelson Net Worth
As of 2021, Nelson’s net worth is $25 million.
